Andrew Wiles on doing mathematics

Perhaps I could best describe my experience of doing mathematics in terms of entering a dark mansion. One goes into the ﬁrst room, and it’s dark, completely dark. One stumbles around bumping into the furniture, and gradually, you learn where each piece of furniture is, and ﬁnally, after six months or so, you ﬁnd the light switch. You turn it on, and suddenly, it’s all illuminated. You can see exactly where you were.